


One Breath Away

by magicbubblepipe



Category: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Boys Kissing, Frottage, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 06:04:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4168770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicbubblepipe/pseuds/magicbubblepipe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ponyboy seeks to comfort Johnny after a fight with his father. Turns out Johnny wants more from him than he ever would have guessed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Breath Away

            Ponyboy pulls a cigarette from his fresh pack of Kools, the tall grass of the lot swishing around his legs. He wanders over to his usual spot and settles down cross-legged to watch the sun go down. Lighting up his smoke, he takes a long drag, lets it fill up his lungs and then sighs. Nicotine thrumming through his veins, calming his thoughts; he watches the gradual progression of colors shifting across the horizon.

            He’s lost himself in shades of gold and pink and purple, mind empty of everything but beauty. He thinks maybe he’d write poetry if he’d brought some paper but that’s just as well because the gang would never let him live it down.

            “Thought you might be here,” says a quiet voice from behind. Pony flinches, whipping his head around to see Johnny standing there in the fading light.

            “Jee whiz, Johnny, you ‘bout scared the life outta me,” he sighs, pushing back the strands of hair that had fallen into his eyes.

            Johnny gives him an apologetic little smile, “Sorry, man,” he offers with a shrug. He stands there timidly for a moment before easing himself down beside his friend. Pony turns his attention back to the sinking sun and Johnny watches with him in silence. He loves that about Johnny; that he can dig things like this without having to speak. He briefly imagines this same situation but with Two-Bit and nearly laughs out loud.

            Johnny notices his little huff of a sound and asks him what’s wrong.

            “Nothin’, just a funny thought is all.”

            “Oh,” a beat of considering silence then, “You gotta smoke on ya?”

            “Sure,” Pony says, grinding out the small butt of his cigarette before digging out two more for him and Johnny.

            It’s in the flash of match light that he sees the fresh purpling bruise on Johnny’s cheekbone. He swallows hard, lighting their cigarettes and waving out the match. “Was it a Soc or your old man?” he asks, knowing Johnny will understand what he means.

            Johnny takes a drag and gently prods the wound with his fingertips. His mouth twists in a grimace as he lets out his smoke. “Dad,” he answers simply. “Not as bad as it could’a been.”

            Ponyboy scoffs, “Yeah, I guess he could have killed ya if he wanted. What a saint.”

            Johnny bumps him with his shoulder but stays quiet. The last sliver of daylight is creeping below the horizon, the sky going purple-gray. They sit and watch the colors change, smoking in silence. Ponyboy’s gut is twisted up in knots of sadness and rage, wishing he could do something to make it better for his friend. Wished he was older, bigger, wished he had any power at all.

            “It’s just not fair is all,” he mumbles mostly to himself.

            “Yeah, but that’s just life I guess,” Johnny replies hollowly.

            Pony turns his gaze on the older boy, seeking out his brown eyes under the concealing fall of hair. Johnny looks back, not hiding anything. There’s no anger in his eyes. Sadness, absolutely, but no anger. Ponyboy suddenly feels embarrassingly close to tears and he yanks his gaze away from him, back to the cigarette that’s about to burn down and scald his fingers. He takes one last puff before he crushes it out.

            “You staying here tonight?” Pony asks.

            “I reckon so. Don’t much feel like gettin’ one to match on the other side.”

            “Well, let’s start a little fire then,” Ponyboy says as he stands to round up sticks. “I’ll hang with ya till you get tired.”

            “Thanks, Pony.”

…

            Once they have a nice little blaze going, they lie down on their backs, watching the stars get clearer in the sky. Ponyboy points out all the constellations he can remember, wanting to take Johnny’s mind off of his life. Johnny relaxes, shifting closer to him and letting their heads rest against each other. Pony tells him every dumb joke he can remember just to hear him laugh, even ones his dad used to tell and he tries not to think of him very often.

            There’s a lull between them when he feels Johnny’s eyes on his face. He turns his head and finds Johnny staring at him with a tiny smile curving his lips.

            “What the heck are you starin’ at?” Pony asks, worried he’s got a bug on his face or a huge zit or something.

            “Your hair looks really pretty in the firelight,” Johnny admits quietly. “Looks like the sunset.”

            Pony’s stomach does a frightening swoop and his face goes so red he feels his ears burn. “Aw, cut that out,” he says, jostling Johnny’s shoulder.

            “It’s the truth,” Johnny says, flicker of fire dancing in his liquid dark eyes. He grabs several strands of Pony’s hair in his fingers, holds them up to the light and lets them drop one by one. “Soft too,” he muses.

            Pony fidgets, bats the boy’s hand away but Johnny just chuckles, low and warm. It makes Pony’s insides feel tight and fluttery. He thinks maybe now would be a good time to either sock him one for teasing him or run home before his head burns a hole through the ground. And then Johnny leans in and presses a tiny, soft kiss to Ponyboy’s cheek and all higher thought in his mind stops dead in its tracks.

            He cuts his eyes to Johnny’s expecting to find humor there, to see that it’s all a joke. But Johnny isn’t laughing. Those big eyes are burning brighter, darker than Pony’s every seen them and it makes his mouth go dry. He realizes on some instinctual level that the ball’s in his court now. It’s his turn to make a move.

            His blood is racing but he doesn’t want to run away, doesn’t think he even could. The fingers of Pony’s hand, the one that lies between them, reach out searching for Johnny’s. They connect with warm skin, a current of electricity straight up his arm as they lace their fingers together and Johnny smiles at him a little brighter. Ponyboy’s eyes fixate on Johnny’s mouth and he feels himself lick his lips.

            Taking that as the sign it is, Johnny leans in closer to connect their mouths in a gentle kiss. Pony gasps, heart slamming in his chest as he tentatively moves his lips against Johnny’s. The older boy props up on his elbow enough to lean over him, pushing deeper into the kiss. He threads his fingers into that ginger-gold hair, sighing at the silk that slips through his fingers and nudges his tongue at the seam of Pony’s lips.

            Pony opens up on a little moan, letting Johnny’s tongue in to slide against his own. His hands reach up to fist themselves in Johnny’s jeans jacket, pulling him down, down until he gets the message and settles himself firmly on top of him. Johnny pulls off with a tug to Ponyboy’s plump bottom lip and whispers, “Spread your legs, Pony.”

            Ponyboy shivers and does as he’s told, letting Johnny lie down between his legs. The first meeting of their groins makes Pony toss his head back and whine. Johnny swears something quietly and crushes their mouths back together, harder than before. Pony lets him guide the kiss, having never kissed anyone before and damn, he’s lucky Johnny’s his first.

            Johnny gets his hand back in Pony’s hair, tugging gently when the younger boy shivers beneath him. His other hand slips down the length of Ponyboy’s side, nudging up the hem of his worn black t-shirt to press against the trembling skin of his belly. He squirms under the hot slide of Johnny’s palm up his chest, hips jerking when the pad of his thumb grazes a hard nipple.

            Pony gasps his way back from the kiss, panting hard. One of his hands is thoroughly screwing up Johnny’s hair and the other is clutching at his back, trying to press their bodies closer together. Johnny stares down at him, absorbing the sight of his friend’s pretty pink cheeks, his swollen mouth. Pony looks just as enamored as he does, gazing up at him as Johnny leans back enough to go for the fly of the other boy’s jeans.

            Stomach fluttering wildly, heart thumping away in his chest, he stays still and watches Johnny’s slightly trembling hands undo the buttons of his pants. He gets his fingertips under the waistband of Ponyboy’s underwear and pushes them down enough for his cock to slip free, slapping back against the smooth plane of his belly.

            They both moan at the first touch of Johnny’s fingers, tanned summer-dark, wrapping gently around Pony’s flushed pink shaft. Pony arches his back, fingers scrabbling at the grass as Johnny lets out a shaky breath and starts to stroke him. His cock jerks in Johnny’s grasp, leaking a clear drop over the crown to be swiped up by Johnny’s thumb.

            “Jeez, Pony,” Johnny breathes, his other hand rubbing at the answering bulge in his own jeans, “Anyone ever touch you here before?”

            Ponyboy’s face burns darker and he tosses his head in an erratic ‘no’. Johnny bites his lip, twisting his fist around the swollen dark head, consumed with the idea of being his first. He makes quick work of his own jeans while he keeps on touching Pony, pulling out his own dick and giving it a few good pulls.

            He lets go of them both, pulling an annoyed whine from Pony. “Hold on,” he soothes, lying back down in his former position. He presses a gentle kiss to Ponyboy’s bitten red lips before he lines up their cocks and thrusts. They groan in unison, Pony’s mouth falling open, arms twining around Johnny’s back. The sweet drag of skin on skin is fast making the younger boy shiver, legs spreading wider and wrapping around Johnny’s hips.

            “Oh God, Johnny…” he pants, voice high and breathy as he starts to meet him thrust for thrust, hips rolling fluidly now.

            Johnny braces himself on his elbows and works faster, sweating under his jacket but not willing to stop for anything. Pony’s whimpering and muttering under him, pressing messy kisses to his cheeks and neck.

            “You close, Ponyboy?” he rasps into his ear and he can feel him nod frantically.

            “Real close,” Pony says, body tightening up, fingers clutching at Johnny’s back.

            That’s when Johnny gets his hand back in Pony’s hair and pulls. Pony lets out a yell, arching up under him, thighs trapping him tight as he starts to come. At the first wet splatter against his own skin, Johnny’s seizing up too, hips jerking wildly, pushing their cocks flush together in the growing mess between them.

            Pony’s still twitching through his orgasm when Johnny starts kissing him again, wet and open. Pony pants into his mouth, this time not afraid to push his own tongue inside, taste his warm honey sweetness. Johnny breaks away with a gasp and presses their foreheads together.

            “Man, if you don’t cut that out I’ll be ready to go again in no time,” he says with a little laugh, bumping his nose against Pony’s.

            “Mmm,” Pony bites his lip and trails a sneaky hand down to grab Johnny’s jean clad ass. “That would be a shame.”

            Johnny groans, feeling his cock twitch back to full hardness. “You’re killin’ me, kid.”

            Ponyboy suddenly plants his feet on the ground and flips them over so he’s on top, smiling a wolfish little grin. “Who you callin’ kid, Johnnycake?” he asks, rubbing his hard length down against him.

            A shudder rushes down Johnny’s spine and he smiles. “I stand corrected.”

           


End file.
